The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-09-17
JOBS COMFORTERS.
BY REV, DIR. JOSEPH PARKER.
london. England)
III.

ed his distance from Job: 81 have
often steadied myself under stunning
blow by remembering that protoplasm,
simple or indicated, is the formal basis
of all life. This has been great COM
fort to me in many distresses. When
death has invaded the household of any
of my friends have always proved to
them that all living powers are cognate,
and that all living forms are funda-
mentally of one character, and they have
invariably thanked me for my sympa-
thetic and consolatory expressions. One
dear old friend of mine, who suddenly
lost all his income in railroad crash,
would, believe, have died of broken
heart, had l not asked him to compare
in his imagination the microscopic fun
gus-a mere infnitesimal oyoid parti-
cle-with the gigantic pine of Califor-
mia, towering to the dimensions of a
cathedral spire; and my friend no
sooner complied with my request than
in a wave of victory, as Tyndall the
Sadducee would call it, he was lifted
far beyond rolling stocks and perma-
nent ways with their tickle dividends
and treacherOus attractions. 1t is very
pleasing to me to find that there is in
science that which will heala mind dis
eased.' Job, be encouraged by our
words; rest upon them as upon a sure
foundation and in passing through
the various experiences of life, always
remember that a indicated mass of
protoplasm is the structural unit of the
human body. This you will find ca
tholicon for human ills"
Then Job arose from the ground and
turned his face toward the heavens, nor
spake one word to those who offered
him stones for bread. In his eyes were
standing great tears, and on his counte-
nance was the stamp of unutterable
grief. Then the Lord took up his
cause, and answered his comforters out
of the whirlwind
SHOW old are ye, and what is the
measure of your days? Ye mighty
men and mocking comforters, answer
me, that 1 may know the strength of
your understanding and the dignity of
your judgment. What will happen on
the morrow? And can you, who are
unable to turn over single page of
passing time, read all the volume of
eternity gone, and comprehend the
measure and the reason of all things =?
Is the universe without a maker, guar
dian, friend ? Are there no bounda-
ries set to power, and is there no watch
appointed over ambition? Can the
eagle soar quite into the sun, or build
his nest amidst the forests Of the stars?
Can any man deliver bis friend in the
day of death, or travel with him into
the great waters and return from the
gulf ? Is there no angel of mercy
spreading mighty but gentle wings
over all the world, sending the seasons
in their course, the rain in rich show
ers and the fire to warm the earth of
all summer long? Are there no mys-
teries in life which make you pause and
for moment turn your fiippancy into,
at least, an appearance of sobriety !?
Know ye the invisible bonds which keep
you within an appointed sphere? Can
you shut your door upon those powers
which wither your pride, and take
away all the sap of your strength You
call Me a Secret and an Inscrutable
Force, and you deny My power to re-
veal Myself to the children of men.
Who are you that you should set your
selves against Moses and David, Eze-
kiel and Daniel, John and Paul : You
have told my servant JOB what you can
do in the hour of human darkness and
sore distress, and behold your helpless
ness and the vanity of your strength 70
Then Job cried aloud, Though he
slay me, yet will l trust in him He
hath been with me in six troubles, and
in seven he will not cast me off. Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Miserable comforters are ye all, though
ye are the men, and wisdom will die
with you When you have exhausted
your petty science, what have you told
me that can touch the agony of my
heart, or bring back the light of my
house If your theory be right, why
should suffer all this misery when, in
a moment, l can end all my distress ?
If this Christening be for no higher
good, why should l not interrupt it by
an instant destruction of my conscious,
ness? You mock me, but you have no
satisfaction for my heart. You throw
hard words at me, but you have no balm
for my healing. Ye are as a bowling
wall and tottering fence; will not
lean upon you. The Lord is my light
and my salvation. had tainted unless
1 had believed to see the goodness of
the Lord in the land Of the living. O.
Lord Thou hast brought up my soul
from the grave; thou has kept me
alive that 1 should not go down to the
pit Thine anger endureth but mo-
ment weeping may endure for night,
but joy cometh in the morning said
in my haste, am cut off from before
thine eyes; nevertheless thou heaTdest
the voice of my qualifications when I